Plein Sud (1980)

May 25, 1984

SCREEN: 'HEAT OF DESIRE,' AN AFFAIR

By JANET MASLIN

Published: May 25, 1984

A TIMID academic is caught up in a reckless erotic escapade in ''Heat of Desire,'' the latest of several thinking-man's sex films to have opened here in the last few weeks. It begins, most improbably, when the pouty mistress (Clio Goldsmith) of a politician announces that she is bored with her lot and determines to have a fling with the very next man she sees. He turns out to be a pale, nervous professor of philosophy, played by Patrick Dewaere, who looks terribly gaunt here and committed suicide after completing the role.

''Heat of Desire,'' which opens today at the Plaza theater, was directed by Luc Beraud, whose previous film was ''Like a Turtle on Its Back,'' about an author suffering from writer's block. Mr. Beraud has a way with slightly offbeat subjects, and much of his work is appealingly idiosyncratic. This time, though, his material (he co-wrote the film with Claude Miller) is more joyless and contrived. It follows the professor's progress away from his constricted, humdrum life toward something more adventuresome, yet it manages to chart his course in predictable ways.

Serge Lane (Mr. Dewaere) encounters Carol (Miss Goldsmith) just as he and his wife are about to embark on an expense-paid trip to Barcelona for a speaking engagement. Carol's allure is such that she soon has Serge telephoning his wife, telling her to cancel her travel plans. Soon Serge and Carol are sequestered in a posh Barcelona hotel room, making love, playing childish games (they use most of the bedding to construct an indoor version of a tree house), and running up a formidable room service bill.

The vixenish Carol seems interested only in sex and tourism, and Serge, calling her his ''drug,'' is soon under her spell. This eventually leaves him alone, desperately in debt, and on the brink of total irresponsibility, a condition he finds both frightening and exhilarating. The film is most interesting when it concentrates on Serge's transformation, most meandering when it spins a subplot about Carol's mysterious relatives, even though they are played amusingly by Jeanne Moreau and Guy Marchand. Serge's break with his past is most effectively rendered though tiny details, like the bright yellow shoes he begins wearing as his situation becomes increasingly dire. The same shoes have been seen earlier on a fellow academic, whom Serge must rob in order to pay the caviar bill.

Miss Goldsmith, having played the sex kittenish title role in ''The Gift,'' is once again statuesque and coy in a role that has her spending a lot of time basking
au naturel
in the moonlight. She looks great, and her comic hauteur is effective in scenes calling for a tempermental popsy; otherwise, her range seems limited. Still, she convincingly fills the role of the temptress who drives Serge wild.

Though this film, unlike Mr. Beraud's earlier one, does not deal with writing specifically, it has a faintly literary flavor. If anything, Serge's voice-over narration seems to find more meaning in the events of the story than the camera does. And the film wanders in a novelistic fashion, savoring minor incidents and traveling at a leisurely pace. This is an appealing aspect of Mr. Beraud's style but also, in this case, a somewhat inappropriate one. Neither the characters nor the story here entirely warrant such scrutiny.

Killing Boredom
HEAT OF DESIRE, directed by Luc Beraud; written (French with english subtitles) by Mr. Beraud and Claude Miller; photographed by Bernard Lutic; edited by Joelle Van Effenterre; music by Eric Demarsan; produced by Lise Fayolle and Giorgio Silvagni; released by Triumph Films, a Columbia/Gaumont Company. At the Plaza, 58th Street east of Madison Avennue. Running time: 89 minutes. This film is rated R. Serge LainePatrick Dewaere CarolClio Goldsmith HeleneJeanne Moreau MaxGuy Marchand RognonPierre Dux MartinezJose-Luis Lopez Vasquez